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Full Description
Behind the scenes of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the quintessential American lab.
Nobel laureate Ernest O. Lawrence and renowned physicist Edward Teller founded the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in 1952. A new ideas incubator, the Lab was at the heart of nuclear testing and the development of supercomputers, lasers, and other major technological innovations of the second half of the twentieth century. Many of its leaders became prominent figures in the technical and defense establishments, and by the end of the 1960s, Livermore was the peer of Los Alamos National Lab, a relationship that continues today.
In The American Lab, former Livermore director C. Bruce Tarter offers unparalleled access to the inner workings of the Lab. Touching on Cold War nuclear science and the technological shift that occurred after the fall of the Berlin Wall, he traces the Lab's evolution from its founding under University of California management through its transfer to private oversight. Along the way, he highlights important episodes in that journey, from the invention of Polaris, the first submarine-launched ballistic missile, to the Lab's controversial role in the Star Wars program. He also describes Livermore's significant responsibilities in stockpile stewardship, the program that ensures the safety and reliability of the US nuclear arsenal.
The book portrays the lab's extensive work on thermonuclear fusion, a potential source of unlimited energy; describes the development of the world's largest laser fusion installation, the National Ignition Facility; and examines a number of smaller projects, such as the Lab's participation in founding the Human Genome Project. Finally, it traces the relationship of the Lab to its federal sponsor, the Department of Energy, as it evolved from partnership to compliance with orders, a shift that affected all of the national laboratories. Drawing on oral histories, internal laboratory documents, and the author's personal experiences from more than fifty years as a Lab employee, The American Lab is an illuminating history of the Lab and its revolutionary work.
Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
Part I. Making the Cold War Cold, 1952-1971
Chapter 1. Origins
Chapter 2. Getting Started
Chapter 3. The Foundation of Deterrence
Chapter 4. Arms Control, Atoms for Peace, and the Test Ban
Chapter 5. Organization and Evolution of the Laboratory
Chapter 6. Development of the Stockpile
Chapter 7. Nuclear Excursions
Chapter 8. Transition
Part II. Lasers, Lasers, Nothing but Lasers, 1971-1988
Chapter 9. Changing of the Guard
Chapter 10. The Nuclear Weapons Program
Chapter 11. Lasers
Chapter 12. The Energy Crisis and New Programs
Chapter 13. Evolution of the Broader Lab
Chapter 14. Star Wars
Chapter 15. End of the Era Part III. Renaissance, Repression, and Reorganization, 1988-2008
Chapter 16. End of the Cold War
Chapter 17. Post-Cold War Changes
Chapter 18. Early Days with the New Administration
Chapter 19. Stockpile Stewardship and the Presidential Decision
Chapter 20. Growth of the Lab
Chapter 21. The Troubles and Their Weathering
Chapter 22. Summing Up
Chapter 23. Transitional Years
Epilogue
Acronyms and Abbreviations
Bibliography
Index
